Audlem Cemetery

First of all, the cemetery is open every day for those wishing to visit a grave . We are keeping all spic and span and ensuring the grass is mown as needed.

A brief history

For many new comers to the village and our community , I give here a précis of the place which is said to be one of -- if not the best such place in all of Cheshire.

1872. The land was acquired from the executors of John Knight Armstrong fir £600 (about 3 acres with extra land being acquired later) and plans set in motion to create a final resting place, with the land at St James Church getting too full. This cemetery was planned to be multi denominational .

1874 Cemetery opens with the Victorian Gothic Chapels standing proud .

The first interment took place in a plot to the left of the first path.

At that time it was deemed that the left side of the top path was for Church of England with the right hand side for all other faiths .

This separation continued fir many years and the right side of the centre path was set aside for Church of England and the left for all others.

Right up to the 1990's the land that was not for C of E was unconsecrated and it was then that Bill Seville, the minister of the Methodist Church, came -- and in a simple ceremony blessed all the grounds. An amazing state of affairs put right at last.

The left side of the old cemetery has some war graves and these are tended every two years by the War Graves Commission.

By the Machine Shed is a lime tree that was planted in 1815 in the reign of George III and down by the front gates stands a magnificent Lebanese Cedar , planted about 1760 when these were made popular by Capability Brown as he created gardens for the rich and landed gentry.

Audlem Burial Board

The whole business of the site is overseen by the Audlem Burial Board, which meets quarterly to receive my report on the past months operations . I took over as manager in the year 2000 following the very sudden death of my beautiful Joan.

We have a staff of four including myself with varied duties, primarily charged with ensuring any interment is carried out to the full satisfaction of all concerned and in keeping it to the highest standard.

For any more detail of how we work or any other points, do please contact me .
Ralph Warburton
07813 820157.
REmail rjw@notrubraw.com